Facts

QUICK FACTS

The international literature on cell phones shows they are linked to brain tumors, brain damage, cognitive dysfunction, sperm count drops, testicular cancer, uveal cancer, parotid gland tumors, cell micronucleation of the mouth and tinnitus, and that being in proximity to a wireless transmitter regularly is a problem, especially for children whose brains, eyes, testes, other organs and immune systems are more susceptible to the effects of microwave radiation than adults’.

So how to relate cell phones to cell towers and Wi-Fi transmitters? Obviously holding a cell phone to the ear is usually the most intense exposure people receive at a given time, although sitting next to a Wi-Fi transmitter on a train there will expose you to the same radiation as talking on a cell phone.

Working at a Wi-Fi enabled laptop can expose a person to 2 to 4 times as much radiation as a cell tower 328 feet away.

8 hours of working at a Wi-Fi enabled laptop in a classroom with 20 computers hooked up to a wireless network gives the student approximately the same amount of radiation they would get from talking on a cell phone for a half hour. This means that over the course of a school a year, a student could get the equivalent exposure of 40-50 hours talking on a cell phone. (Talking on a cell phone regularly before age 20 increases brain tumor risk 420% and 680% if the phone is used on the same side of the head.)

A 2009 study in Switzerland showed that on average people in cities in that country are getting more radiation moving in and out of areas with transmitters than they do from their cell phones. If one accepts that radiation from a cell phone is problematic, it follows that higher cumulative exposures from cell transmitters would be more problematic.

The U.S. government has not commissioned any studies on cell transmitters but the majority of studies (done internationally) show problems within 1,500 feet including elevated cancer rates, and sleep, cardiovascular and neuromuscular problems.

Prior to the rollout of cell towers, both the literature on microwave radiation and epidemiological studies of broadcast towers and radar towers linked proximity to wireless infrastructure with disease. Also, in 1993, the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) explicitly recommended that cell towers not go on or near schools and hospitals.

In 2004, the International Association of Firefighters passed a resolution recommending the infrastructure not go on the premises of firehouses after documenting irregular brain scans in member firefighters who worked near cell towers.